After months of pressure from priests and lay leaders, the Vatican said today that it had accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., effective immediately, the New York Times reported. Since the Vatican did not specify the reasons behind the resignation, it was unclear whether Bishop Malone had been forced to quit. A whistleblower previously revealed that Bishop Malone had kept files about abusive priests that he hid from the public. The Buffalo Diocese is facing more than 200 child sex abuse lawsuits under the Child Victims Act, and is under investigation by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York attorney general for its handling of abusive priests over decades.
